Gardening Wins!!

 Since I began my journey this season by really working on gardening, I have had some failures and some wins. A few fails were not producing any vegetables at the time frame I thought I would. Let's face it, I only have a handful of cherry tomatoes that might truly produce this season. I lost spinach, lettuce, okra, cucumbers, dill, chives, and eggplants. 

My goal this season was to make the backyard a little oasis that we could enjoy. I think we have succeeded. I sit out on the back patio and in the corner garden nearly every morning. We did have some type of animal die under our shed and sitting outside in the evenings is difficult until the smell completely dissipates. But other than that, we have enjoyed our backyard all season.

Many of the flowers that I thought would not survive have and not only survived but are thriving. I am loving how the grass has come back in our backyard. Last year the landlord had completely devastated the backyard with repairs to the septic and then trenching electricity to his garage in the back. We had a rock and dirt backyard last year. We have worked so hard to finally have some green grass. It isn't perfect but at least it is grass.

This whole area was nothing but dirt and rocks
last summer. Although it is nowhere how it should
be at this point from the time we began renting
this old homestead, if nothing else is destroyed
it will be so lush next summer.

I am still loving the fence we built during our Covid illness. I am very surprised it is still standing considering how horrible Keith and I really felt. I got in my galvanized raised beds and cannot wait until next season when I will fill them with sunflowers and vegetable plants!!

Another big win I feel, is when I removed all the plants struggling in the hanging containers on the arch and added them to the rock patio flower bed. They have thrived and doubled if not tripled in size. I am really shocked that the pansies are still so beautiful this late in August!!

My cilantro is out of control along with the parsley. But the green textures in this flower bed are amazing. 

The wildflowers I planted in the small flower bed between the greenhouse and patio have just exploded. The yellow coneflowers are blooming and just add so much dimension to this sweet little spot.

The wild marigolds are so vibrant and full in front of the shed!! One side is larger and fuller than the other one because it receives a lot more sunlight. Next season I will have to figure out something different. Maybe planters flanking the doors as long as the dogs do not mess with them.

Next week I will try and update on the back corner garden. I did some weeding and removing of some rocks. I think I might have killed a couple of lantana plants due to moving them in the heat of the day. I am working hard on bringing them back. It was a dumb rookie mistake especially when one was blooming the brightest and sweetest blooms.

Lessons learned for sure!! But the back corner garden is coming along nicely. I do have some sunflowers blooming in that area. They are nowhere as tall as the ones in the sideyard, but they are still full of buds. I plan on planting some daffodil bulbs among the irises this weekend. I think the two plants intermingling will be so beautiful this spring. Plus the texture of their foliage will add to the cottage garden vibe. I think it is also time for me to plant the yarrow and cone flowers that are in pots in the front garden beds. Water just pours straight through the pots that the yarrow is in. 

My goal these next few weeks is to get all the flower beds clear of any weeds. I will need to spread roundup all over the grass and weeds in the front corner garden bed and begin structuring out the layout for it. Some grass is growing back up in the existing flower bed. So some front yard maintenance this weekend. It is hard to work on those beds sometimes because they are in full sun all day. I think the tree might shade that area for a very short time in the morning.  But I will just dawn my sun hat and get to it this weekend. I have such high hopes for the front yard next year.